Quit Your Wining: extended hours and wine diners on tap

Wine dinners seem to be gaining momentum as we head into spring with CHOW, Bistro Corlise, Jen's Garden and Jackalope planning monthly regional or varietals

Wine dinners seem to be gaining momentum as we head into spring with CHOW, Bistro Corlise, Jen's Garden and Jackalope planning monthly regional or varietals themed meals with an expert on hand to describe the wines and pairings. Jackalope continues to offer cooking classes, which have been wildly popular over the last two months. Both the wine dinners and the classes sell out quickly.

Spring is also bringing with it extended hours for many local spots. Townshend's Tea has extended their weekday hours until 11pm for a little late-night tea sipping. Zydeco is now open Monday nights, and Fireside Red has started serving lunches daily and Sunday brunch.

Redmond has seen a flurry of new restaurants, including The Brickhouse Steak and Raw Bar, The Spot Café and now, the newest addition, BaBa Chinese. Owned and operated by the proprietors of Soba Noodle and Szechwan, BaBa is located 343 SW 6th St and specializes in Szechwan-style food.

It's a perfect time to get out to Sisters as Jen's Garden is featuring the Sipper's Super Club through May. Choose three courses and three wines for the reasonable price of $39. The new restaurant Pleiades is up and running at Sisters' Five Pines Resort and features fresh, local northwest cuisine.

Downtown, the restaurant scene is hopping as usual as Volo, the new restaurant in the new 919 Bond Street Building (next door to the D&D Bar Grill), prepares to open in May. Owner Chris Jones describes the restaurant as "Contemporary American Cuisine" and recently announce that chef Victor Sommo, a New York transplant, will be heading up the kitchen. Up the street, Townshend's Teas continue its ongoing tea tastings with an Oolong tasting on March 30th with Josh Chamberlain.

A few celebrities that have made their way through the area.

A conservative corporate-backed organization that connects lawmakers with industry insiders to craft ready made laws could lose its non-profit status that allows it to wine and dine lawmakers like Central Oregon’s Gene Whisnant.